In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"My lord, shall we deal with Yuwen Bingyu first, and then attack Qingping County?" Wang Junfeng clenched his fist.

"I know you hate Yuwen Bingyu, but the total strength of the six counties is at least 50,000, and they took away a lot of grain. Now Yuwen Bingyu's army is strong and well-equipped, while we are so few people, we don't even have ballistae with us. If their army attacks us, we may not be able to defend this city!"

Therefore, we need to quickly open up Qingping County to connect Qingyang Prefecture with the current Julu Prefecture, and transport the repeating crossbows over so that we can defend the city.

"Only after that can we recruit more soldiers and horses to attack Nanling Prefecture!" Shen An said patiently.

Wang Junfeng then realized that he had lost his temper and immediately knelt down to beg Shen An to punish him.

"Get up. Just remember what I just said! Although there was no fighting this time, you must be tired. Go and rest."

"Liu Wenyuan has prepared wine and meat for you all, eat to your heart's content!" Shen An waved his hand.

Wang Junfeng was deeply moved, feeling that Shen An was incredibly magnanimous and kind to him.

He secretly vowed to himself that he would make great contributions to Shen An!

In Shen An's logic, if Wang Junfeng had attacked Nanling Prefecture without informing him, he would have killed Wang Junfeng. But Wang Junfeng restrained himself, which meant that everything needed to be decided by his lord, and that was enough.

It's normal for soldiers to have different emotions and opinions.

But the premise is that everything must revolve around his lord.

Otherwise, Shen An would never have kept him!

That same day, Shen An ordered his men to notify Liao Bing as quickly as possible to lead 5,000 men and push across the northern part of Qingping County at 7:00 PM the next day.

The following day, Wang Junfeng was ordered to lead 5,000 men to attack from the southern part of Qingping County at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM).

They attacked from both sides, at noon the next day.

Good news arrived.

They successfully occupied Qingping County. The county magistrate fled with his officials, but fortunately, they didn't have time to take the grain and fodder with them and left them all behind.

On that day, Liao Bing, following Shen An's orders, informed the people that taxes would be halved and corvée labor would be lifted.

Shen An immediately went to Qingping County!

They haven't been informed of the land relocation yet, and his arrival has drawn a warm welcome from the locals.

Xu Nian, who had a past relationship with Shen An, looked at this recently prominent figure in the crowd with a face full of surprise.

Jiang Caijun, who had previously done business with Shen An in the field of blood residue charcoal, was too frightened to look up when he saw this scene.

He didn't keep his promise to Shen An at the time.

If Shen An comes looking for trouble, wouldn't he be doomed?

But what I feared most came to pass!

Just then, his old friend patted him on the shoulder: "Why are you looking down? Lord Shen looks at you!"

"I am not Jiang Caijun, I am not Jiang Caijun." Jiang Caijun was so frightened that he quickly denied it.

Shen An was speechless. Wasn't this just like protesting too much?

If this guy hadn't spoken, Shen An wouldn't have been sure it was him. But once he spoke, Shen An was certain it was Jiang Caijun.

"Jiang Caijun, it's been a long time!" Shen An said with a smile.

"Sir, I didn't, I didn't!"

"I know who you are. Don't be afraid. The person who came looking for you that day was a powerful figure. It's normal for you to reveal my information," Shen An said with a smile.

"Really?" Jiang Caijun finally dared to raise his head.

"Hmph! My lord is the sole representative of the Dragon God on earth, how can he speak so lightly?" As Liao Bing spoke, he pressed his spear against Jiang Caijun's neck.

Jiang Caijun was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he hurriedly said, "I believe you, I believe you..."

"You did business with me before, which was a small favor, so you're kind of an old acquaintance of mine!"

Shen An left those words behind and continued riding forward.

Jiang Caijun was overjoyed. Although Shen An didn't take him seriously, the words "old friend" were worth a thousand pieces of gold!

In the future, he will definitely be a number one figure in Qingping County!

And that was indeed the case; those around him who had just been frightened away were now all beaming with ingratiating smiles.

Xu Nian, standing in the crowd, was filled with mixed feelings. Jiang Caijun had all benefited, while he had gained nothing.

Back then, I even helped Shen An with a small favor.

Sigh...it seems Shen An has forgotten about me!

Xu Nian shook his head and prepared to turn and leave.

But then a voice called out, "Hey, is that Xu Nian up ahead?"

Xu Nian turned around abruptly, and it was Shen An calling him.

That moment!

Xu Nian almost cried.

Shen An still remembers him, he really does!

Xu Nian quickly pushed through the crowd and ran to Shen An's side, intending to kneel down before him.

Shen An dismounted and helped Xu Nian up.

This action made everyone present look at Xu Nian in a new light.

Shen An was so polite to him, their relationship must be quite close!

"Xu Nian, I remember you treating me to drinks and helping me find a seller that day. Everyone remember, Xu Nian is my good friend Shen An!" Shen An's voice wasn't loud, but it carried far.

The relationship between close friends far surpasses that of old friends.

Everyone present looked at Xu Nian with envy in their eyes.

With just one sentence, a friend can elevate him to a position of immense power!

Xu Nian was so excited that he burst into tears. After retiring from his official post, he had always been thinking about befriending all kinds of talented young people.

There haven't been any good results so far.

When they arrived at Shen An's place, their dream came true.

What Xu Nian didn't expect was...

After Shen An led him to the entrance of the county government office, Shen An first announced in public that Qingping County was no longer under the jurisdiction of Yangnan Prefecture, but belonged to Qingyang Prefecture. From now on, the seat of the prefecture would be in Qingyang City!

Then Shen An raised Xu Nian's hand and said, "From now on, Xu Nian will temporarily serve as the magistrate of Qingping County!"

"Huh? This, this..." Xu Nian was completely dumbfounded.

He only helped Shen An with a small favor that day, and he was rewarded with the position of county magistrate?

He's practically the best investor in Daliang!

"Enough with that, Magistrate Xu, why don't you say something to everyone?" Shen An gave up his central position.

His choice of Xu Nian was not solely due to Xu Nian's help at the time.

The problem is that he doesn't have a suitable candidate at the moment. Xu Nian was a minor official in his early years and has some experience in governance.

It's better than him just picking anyone.

Of course, Xu Nian's tenure is only temporary. If he fails to govern well in the future, Shen An will remove him immediately.

Xu Nian never expected that his meteoric rise to prominence would happen today!

Although he was completely unprepared, his years of experience as an official allowed him to handle the situation calmly.

He first thanked Shen An for his guidance and trust, and vowed to live up to Shen An's expectations.

He then proceeded to say some words in a seemingly serious manner, to boost morale and flatter Shen An.

After he finished speaking, Shen An summoned Xu Nian to the county government office and instructed him to quickly build up the county government staff. He told Xu Nian that the selection of personnel must be based on ability and loyalty, and that he must not engage in personal nepotism.

Xu Nian had heard about what Shen An had been doing recently; many people had given him the nickname "Living Yama."

Having served as an official for many years and lived a very enlightened life, he dared not disobey Shen An's orders. He immediately swore that he would select personnel according to Shen An's standards and would never embezzle funds.

"Alright, I trust you. I will leave five thousand soldiers to guard this place."

Shen An nodded, then arranged for Zhao Long to be stationed there, and then he planned to return to Julu Prefecture.

Now that his territory has expanded several times over, manpower is a major problem, and he needs to recruit soldiers as soon as possible.

Just as they left the county government office, Liao Bing slapped his forehead and said, "My lord, it seems we haven't told Xu Nian about the land reform in Qingping County yet."

"Our purpose in taking control of Qingping County is to make it a vital passage connecting Julu Prefecture and Qingyang Prefecture, and we need to ensure its stability."

"The land reform in Julu Prefecture is still incomplete, so don't touch this place for now." Shen An replied, "You should return to Qingyang Prefecture as soon as possible and transport out 150 repeating crossbows. Keep 50 for Qingping County and send 100 to Julu Prefecture!"

"Isn't this too little?"

"There aren't many, but Qingyang County is our stronghold, and we must protect it! Zhao Long is in Qingping County; he can lead skilled craftsmen to manufacture repeating crossbows, and I can also manufacture them when I return to Julu Prefecture."

"yes!"

After the two finished speaking, they took their leave. For Shen An, recruiting soldiers and manufacturing repeating crossbows were extremely urgent matters. If they were even a minute late, the whole game would be lost!

As Shen An returned to Julu, Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Qin finally emerged from the miasma-filled Julu Mountain.

The two men looked exhausted, and the number of soldiers behind them had dwindled to half.

Looking at the city ahead, Li Huaiyi felt reassured. The city ahead was Pingtung County, which was under his jurisdiction and only thirty miles from his prefectural capital.

"Brother Yuwen, we were lucky to come out alive this time. The miasma in Julu Mountain was terrifying. It was all caused by that damned Shen An. We must avenge him. So you should go and seek refuge with Yuwen Bingyu as soon as possible and tell her that we should take advantage of Shen An's unstable foothold and work together to get rid of him as soon as possible!"

Shen An's territory has expanded, and his forces are scattered, making this the perfect opportunity for us to deal with him! We'll make sure he suffers the consequences of his attempt to steal a chicken!